Tethered ball apparatus

ABSTRACT

A ball game made of a spongy ball connected to the end of a stick by an elastic cord. The stick is slightly flexible and the cord is a rubber-like string covered by an elastic textile sheathing to cut down on the elongation and to increase the response of the ball. The player grips the stick and bounces the ball back and forth on the floor or a wall. The game is designed to develop skill and rhythm.

United States Patent 11 1 Tremblay 14 1 Apr. 22, 1975 1 1 TETHERED BALL APPARATUS [76] lnventor: Daniel R. Tremblay. 8521 D'Artagnan St. Leonard. Montreal 457. P. Que, Canada [22] Filed: Apr. 4, 1973 [21] Appl. No.: 347,695

[52] US. Cl. 273/95 A; 273/D1G. 5 [51] Int. Cl A63b 71/00 [58] Field of Search 273/98. 58 C, 95 A, 26 E. 273/97 R [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 439.297 10/1890 Hcyder 273/95 A 786.997 4/1905 Roscnthal 273/95 A 2.199.461 5/1940 .loncs 273/95 A 2.944.817 7/1960 Stillcr 273/58 C 3.107.094 10 1963 Kfoury 273/58 c 3.037.209 1/1972 273/58 6 3.729.194 4/1973 Barnett 273/58 (7 Primary Eraminer-Richard C. Pinkham Assistant E.\'aminer--Marvin Siskind Attorney. Agent. or Firm-Roland L. Morneau [57] ABSTRACT A ball game made of a spongy ball connected to the end of a stick by an elastic cord. The stick is slightly flexible and the cord is a rubber-like string covered by an elastic textile sheathing to cut down on the elongation and to increase the response of the ball. The player grips the stick and bounces the ball back and forth on the floor or a wall. The game is designed to develop skill and rhythm.

1 Claim, 5 Drawing Figures TETHERED BALL APPARATUS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a ball adapted to exercise the skill and the rhythm of a player while he is in various positions. More particularly, the ball is bounced back and forth on the floor or the wall while the player stands, sits, lies or even rolls over on the floor.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION According to the present invention, a rather short, light and slightly flexible stick is connected to a small spongy rubber-like ball by an elastic cord which has a limited elongation.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The invention will now be described in greater details with the help of the annexed drawing wherein,

FIG. I is a perspective view of an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross-sectional view along line lI--II of the rod shown in FIG. I,

FIG. 3 is a cross-sectional view of a hollow rod,

FIG. 4 is a side view of an alternative embodiment of the rod,

FIG. 5 is a cross-sectional view along line V-V of the elastic cord shown in FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION FIG. 1 illustrates a common embodiment of the invention which is made of a rod having a circular crosssection of A inch and a length of 2 feet. The rod is made of soft wood which may bend without breaking under normal use. Wood such as pine, birch or bambou are considered satisfactory. Furthermore, a wood which breaks clean, without splint, is preferred for not causing injuries if abusive tension is applied while in use.

The flexibility of the rod is useful for absorbing part of the impact of the ball and for increasing the momentum of the ball at the end of its trajectory.

At one end of the rod 10 is attached an elastic string 12 through a hole 14 in the rod 10. The string may have a range of 12 to 24 inches and preferably 18 inches.

The elastic string may be made of rubber or synthetic elastomer which can stretch up to the breaking point. However, with this type of string, the speed at the end of the trajectory is slow and this reduces the rhythm of the game.

The slowing part of the motion of the ball is eliminated by joining a non-extensible cord to the elastic string. If the elastic string has 18 inches, the nonextensible cord would have about 36 inches.

A preferred arrangement for the elastic string is illustrated in cross-section in FIG. 5 and consists of a rubber or elastomer core 20 and an extensible textile sheathing 22. Although the core may stretch until it breaks, the sheathing is stretchable but stops stretching before it breaks. The extent of stretchability of the sheathing 22 is much within the breaking point of the core 20. This combination prevents the core to extend until it breakes and in addition, will eliminate the end of the trajectory during which the speed of the ball slows down. The speed of the game is accordingly increased.

The ball 16 is made of resilient material and preferably of spongy material, so as to have a nice soft bouncy action. The string 12 is passed through the middle of the ball 16 and retained to the ball by a small nut 18 or the like.

Although, the rod may be made of a variety of material, poly vinyl chloride PVC plastic has very suitable characteristics. Its flexibility may be reduced by making the tube 24 hollow as shown in FIG. 3. The flexibility may be modified by varying the thickness of the tube 24. It also has been noticed to break clean. This prevents accidents as stated above.

The shape of the rod may have a variety of configuration although a symetrical section is preferred. The shape 26 illustrated in FIG. 4 is particularly useful because it provides a good grip.

It should also be within the embodiment of this inven tion to add a handle at the end of the rod.

What I claim is:

l. A game comprising a tubular member having approximately 24 inches in length and A inch in diameter. a resilient ball and an elastic cord having approximately 18 inches in length and connecting one end of said member to the ball, the said tubular member being adapted to be held by the hand at the end opposite the elastic cord and to be moved so as to bounce the ball on surrounding surfaces in a back and forth movement, the game being characterized by the tubular member being made of a slightly flexible plastic so that the momemtum of the ball produces a small deflection of the said opposite end of the tubular member, and the elastic cord being made of a rubber-like core, and a stretchable textile tubular sheating surrounding said core, the said sheating having a maximum stretching length substantially smaller than the stretching length of said core corresponding to its breaking point. 

1. A game comprising a tubular member having approximately 24 inches in length and 1/4 inch in diameter, a resilient ball and an elastic cord having approximately 18 inches in length and connecting one end of said member to the ball, the said tubular member being adapted to be held by the hand at the end opposite the elastic cord and to be moved so as to bounce the ball on surrounding surfaces in a back and forth movement, the game being characterized by the tubular member being made of a slightly flexible plastic so that the momemtum of the ball produces a small deflection of the said opposite end of the tubular member, and the elastic cord being made of a rubber-like core, and a stretchable textile tubular sheating surrounding said core, the said sheating having a maximum stretching length substantially smaller than the stretching length of said core corresponding to its breaking point. 